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Thursday, 26 January 2017

JOSEPH HENRY DOWN (1889-1915) - SERENDIPITY

My husband and I were recently in Ottawa, Ontario from January 18 - 22, 2017 to watch the Canadian Figure Skating Championships. We had some free time before the event and planned to see Rideau Hall and an Art Gallery.

I'm not sure why I chose to visit the Veterans Affairs Canada website at this particular time. I think there was a posting in the Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook page about Military Records and I followed the link.Veterans Affairs Canada

There are 7 Books of Remembrance at the Memorial Chamber at Parliament Hill. Each day a page on each book is turned to commemorate the soldiers who were killed in action. The books can be searched by name and/or year of death. I searched the database for my grandfather Joseph Henry Down, who died at the 2nd Battle of Ypres on April 24, 1915.

His page was to be displayed on January 19, 2017. This was incredible luck. We toured the Parliament Buildings early January 19, 2017 and were in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower before 11:0 am. There is a small ceremony when the pages are turned at 11:00 am.

Joseph Henry Down, Sapper 2nd Field Company

This is the second time that my research on Joseph Down and Figure Skating have coincided. In 2015 we were on our way from Toronto to Kingston, Ontario to watch the 2015 Canadian Figure Skating Championships and discovered there was an exhibit at the War Museum in Ottawa to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the 2nd Battle of Ypres. We included a trip to Ottawa prior to going to Kingston.